Magic Spirit
|casting_cost = |upkeep_cost = per turn |research_cost = * |num_figures = |moves = / |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Meld Non-Corporeal }} The Magic Spirit is a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. Magic Spirits belong to the Realm, and may be summoned using a Summoning Spell of the same name - which is available to all Wizards as soon as the game begins. The Magic Spirit is a rather poor combat unit, with a mostly harmless Melee Attack. Its main purpose is to Meld with magical Nodes to redirect their to the Spirit's controller, although its ability to move 2 tiles per turn over any terrain on the overland map also makes it an effective scout, especially in the early game. The Fantastic Unit Physical Description The Magic Spirit is a form of ghost-like creature. It resembles a person or possibly a dead corpse, surrounded by a brightly glowing aura. It hovers slightly above the surface, and does not seem to be made of any physical matter - thus allowing the creature to move through completely solid objects. The Magic Spirit is a . Attack Properties With its Attack Strength of , the Magic Spirit's attack is quite weak. While it is comparable to the attack of most mid-tier Normal Units, it is not very impressive given that this is a . The creature will inflict only points of "raw" on average with its attacks, which can easily be blocked by most opponents. Defensive Properties The Magic Spirit has a Defense score of only , meaning that it will block an average of points from Conventional Damage attacks. This makes it somewhat vulnerable, even to weak enemy units. Fortunately, the Magic Spirit does have , allowing it to survive at least some combat before being destroyed. It also has a fairly good Resistance score of , which means that Unit Curses, Special Attacks, and other resistable combat effects are not that effective against it, especially if they do not impose a Resistance penalty. Other Properties The Magic Spirit has a Movement Allowance of , though it can alternatively use when moving or fighting over Ocean tiles. Furthermore, the unit is Non-Corporeal, which allows it to move on the overland map at a rate of 0.5 Movement Points per tile - regardless of what type of terrain it is attempting to cross. This allows an unenchanted Magic Spirit to move 2 tiles per turn on the overland map, albeit at the cost of not being able to benefit from Roads of any kind. In siege battles, the creature can also cross through City Walls as though they were not there. Melding : The most important quality of the Magic Spirit is its ability to Meld with magical Nodes. This is an extra unit action that can only be used on the overland map. Whenever a Magic Spirit is on the same tile as a Node not already controlled by its owner, the "Meld" command becomes available to it, so long as it has any Movement Allowance remaining. Executing this action immediately destroys the Spirit as a unit - in an attempt to take control of the Node. Melding is always successful if the Node is not controlled by any player, or if it is linked to its owner by a Magic Spirit. However, if a rival Wizard controls the Node through a , the chance of success is only 25%, even though the Spirit attempting the Meld will always be destroyed regardless of whether it succeeds in subverting the Node or not. The type of spirit Melded into a Node, if any, can be viewed in the Surveyor (F1) by mousing over the tile it is on. If the Melding is successful, the Node comes under the control of the owner of the late Magic Spirit, and will immediately start contributing to their income. If "Show Node Owners" is enabled in the game's Settings, the Node's entire zone of influence will start to sparkle in the banner color of this Wizard, indicating both the amount of generated by it, and the map tiles on which it enhances Fantastic Units matching its Realm. Basic Strategy Magic Spirits are not good combat units. They are weaker than even the most basic Normal Units, and thus will not be able to contribute much to any battle. While they may cause damage to-, or even defeat low-tier Normal Units on occasion, their purpose is to Meld with Nodes, not to fight. They should try to keep away from combat if possible and, when already in battle, stay out of reach of enemy units. Magic Spirits do make excellent scouts though, thanks to the combination of: 1) being available at the beginning of the game regardless of profile traits, 2) having a low base Casting Cost of , 3) having a low Upkeep Cost of per turn, and 4) being able to move 2 tiles per turn on the overland map regardless of terrain due to being Non-Corporeal. In addition, they may still be able to facilitate some limited early conquests by virtue of allowing combat spells to be cast in any battle they enter. That is, unless the enemies have Ranged Attacks, in which case they may kill the Spirit before its controller could take a turn. Enemy Magic Spirits As the only true units, Magic Spirits will never appear as a neutral monster at all, neither in Encounter Zones nor as part of a group of Rampaging Monsters. On the other hand, they are used by all rival Wizards who do not have access to , and may be worth intercepting on their way to Nodes if possible to prevent their owner from gaining more . Destroying a Magic Spirit should be very easy - it has virtually no defense or staying power against anything that attacks it. However, since it is invariably controlled by a Wizard, there will almost always be some combat spells to contend with when engaging one. Ability Overview Meld * This unit is able to meld with a magical Node, capturing it to generate for the unit's controller. The unit itself is destroyed in the process. * To use this ability, the unit needs to be on the same tile as a Node not already Melded with by a Spirit of the same player, be selected, and have Movement Allowance remaining. If all requirements are met, the "Meld" command becomes active in the unit window at the bottom right of the screen. Non-Corporeal * This unit may move across any overland terrain at a rate of 0.5 Movement Point per tile. * The unit does not get speed benefits from moving across Roads or Enchanted Roads. * During battle, the unit may move through City Walls as though they were not there. * The unit is immune to the effects of the , , and spells. The Summoning Spell Usage Magic Spirit may only be cast overland, for the base Casting Cost of . Upon successfully casting the spell, the new Magic Spirit unit will appear in the Town currently containing the Wizard's Summoning Circle, with full Movement Allowance, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary. To keep the Magic Spirit in play, its controller is required to pay an Upkeep Cost of per turn. This is drawn automatically from the caster's pool at the beginning of each turn while the unit exists. Failure to pay this Upkeep due to lack of will lead to the Magic Spirit immediately disappearing, along with any Unit Enchantments currently affecting it. However, this upkeep is for the unit, not for the spell: Summoning Spells can not be dispelled by the enemy once cast. Naturally though, if the unit is destroyed, then it is gone from the world entirely, and there is no further need to pay its Upkeep Cost. Units summoned on the overland map may also be dismissed manually from their unit statistics window the same way as any other overland unit (during their controller's turn, while not in combat). The Magic Spirit is also automatically destroyed when commanded to Meld with a magical Node, regardless of whether it succeeds in gaining control over it or not. Acquisition Magic Spirit is one of the two spells that each and every Wizard possesses as soon as the game begins (with the other one being the ). Therefore, any Wizard may start casting Magic Spirit as early as the first turn - there is never a need to research this spell. Category:Units Category:Fantastic Creatures Category:Arcane